Proverbs 5

The internet is full of quick resources and self-help advice amidst times of calm and times of crisis. You can find help on literally anything on the go anytime, anywhere. But how much of it is true and actually helpful and how much of it is just click-bait and sensationalism. Thankfully, we have a book that has stood the test of time. King Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived (excluding Jesus fully-man of course). Solomon, Son of David, when asked by God he can have anything he wants, Solomon responded  “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10). It is through this godly wisdom that we have the book of Proverbs today! Today we focus on Proverbs 7.

Amazing!

Let’s journey through Proverbs!

Proverbs 7

Warning Against the Adulterous Woman

My son, keep my words
    and store up my commands within you.
² Keep my commands and you will live;
    guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
³ Bind them on your fingers;
    write them on the tablet of your heart.
⁴ Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,”
    and to insight, “You are my relative.”
⁵ They will keep you from the adulterous woman,
    from the wayward woman with her seductive words.

⁶ At the window of my house
    I looked down through the lattice.
⁷ I saw among the simple,
    I noticed among the young men,
    a youth who had no sense.
⁸ He was going down the street near her corner,
    walking along in the direction of her house
⁹ at twilight, as the day was fading,
    as the dark of night set in.

¹⁰ Then out came a woman to meet him,
    dressed like a prostitute and with crafty intent.
¹¹ (She is unruly and defiant,
    her feet never stay at home;
¹² now in the street, now in the squares,
    at every corner she lurks.)
¹³ She took hold of him and kissed him
    and with a brazen face she said:

¹⁴ “Today I fulfilled my vows,
    and I have food from my fellowship offering at home.
¹⁵ So I came out to meet you;
    I looked for you and have found you!
¹⁶ I have covered my bed
    with colored linens from Egypt.
¹⁷ I have perfumed my bed
    with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon.
¹⁸ Come, let’s drink deeply of love till morning;
    let’s enjoy ourselves with love!
¹⁹ My husband is not at home;
    he has gone on a long journey.
²⁰ He took his purse filled with money
    and will not be home till full moon.”

²¹ With persuasive words she led him astray;
    she seduced him with her smooth talk.
²² All at once he followed her
    like an ox going to the slaughter,
like a deer stepping into a noose
²³     till an arrow pierces his liver,
like a bird darting into a snare,
    little knowing it will cost him his life.

²⁴ Now then, my sons, listen to me;
    pay attention to what I say.
²⁵ Do not let your heart turn to her ways
    or stray into her paths.
²⁶ Many are the victims she has brought down;
    her slain are a mighty throng.
²⁷ Her house is a highway to the grave,
    leading down to the chambers of death.

Embrace the Warning

Reading Proverbs 7 you may easily be pulled to think that the warnings and wisdom portrayed are applicable to adulterous woman and then men who are lured in by their beauty and words of honey. There’s nothing wrong with that. But look a little deeper, the words of Proverbs 7 can and should be applied to any alluring temptation we face.

Something terrible went down in the garden with Adam and Eve. They thought they could handle life by themselves and that they didn’t need to follow God’s advice. Eve decided to listen to Satan’s lies, and Adam followed suit. Adam and Eve were given wisdom and insight by God, but they chose a different path for a brief moment. God even gave them insight about what would happen to them. If they ate from the “tree of knowledge of good and evil they would certainly die.” Not only did God give them wisdom and insight, but He told them they could eat from any other tree, just not that one!

Why did they not listen?

It’s human nature, isn’t it, to want to do something when someone tells you not to? Don’t touch that; stop watching that; get away from hanging out with those people; he is trouble; she will tempt you. When your parents tried to warn you about someone or something, suddenly you wanted it more…right!?!

Why? Because of SIN. First, sin separates us from God first and foremost, but it also separates us from His wisdom and insight.

In Proverbs 7, the author is giving a warning against the adulterous woman. He is giving us wisdom and insight to continue to follow God’s commands or we will fall victim to sin once again.

So what is it in your life right now where God is offering you wisdom and insight, but you are being tempted in a different direction? Is it another woman or man who is not your spouse? A business decision that goes against God’s wisdom and insight? Is it a decision you need to make, but you are just afraid to make it because it goes against “worldly” wisdom? Could it be a sin you’re continually doing and just cannot stop on your own?

No matter what you are facing, know that God is guarding you with His teachings and commands.

Let God’s warnings for you keep you on the right path! They will surely save your life.

The internet is full of quick resources and self-help advice amidst times of calm and times of crisis. You can find help on literally anything on the go anytime, anywhere. But how much of it is true and actually helpful and how much of it is just click-bait and sensationalism. Thankfully, we have a book that has stood the test of time. King Solomon, the wisest man to have ever lived (excluding Jesus fully-man of course). Solomon, Son of David, when asked by God he can have anything he wants, Solomon responded  “Give me wisdom and knowledge, that I may lead this people, for who is able to govern this great people of yours?” (2 Chronicles 1:10). It is through this godly wisdom that we have the book of Proverbs today! Today we focus on Proverbs 6.

Amazing!

Let’s journey through Proverbs!

Proverbs 6

Warnings Against Folly

My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor,
    if you have shaken hands in pledge for a stranger,
² you have been trapped by what you said,
    ensnared by the words of your mouth.
³ So do this, my son, to free yourself,
    since you have fallen into your neighbor’s hands:
Go—to the point of exhaustion—^[a]
    and give your neighbor no rest!
⁴ Allow no sleep to your eyes,
    no slumber to your eyelids.
⁵ Free yourself, like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter,
    like a bird from the snare of the fowler.

⁶ Go to the ant, you sluggard;
    consider its ways and be wise!
⁷ It has no commander,
    no overseer or ruler,
⁸ yet it stores its provisions in summer
    and gathers its food at harvest.

⁹ How long will you lie there, you sluggard?
    When will you get up from your sleep?
¹⁰ A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest—
¹¹ and poverty will come on you like a thief
    and scarcity like an armed man.

¹² A troublemaker and a villain,
    who goes about with a corrupt mouth,
¹³     who winks maliciously with his eye,
    signals with his feet
    and motions with his fingers,
¹⁴     who plots evil with deceit in his heart—
    he always stirs up conflict.
¹⁵ Therefore disaster will overtake him in an instant;
    he will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy.

¹⁶ There are six things the Lord hates,
    seven that are detestable to him:
¹⁷         haughty eyes,
        a lying tongue,
        hands that shed innocent blood,
¹⁸         a heart that devises wicked schemes,
        feet that are quick to rush into evil,
¹⁹         a false witness who pours out lies
        and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.

Warning Against Adultery

²⁰ My son, keep your father’s command
    and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
²¹ Bind them always on your heart;
    fasten them around your neck.
²² When you walk, they will guide you;
    when you sleep, they will watch over you;
    when you awake, they will speak to you.
²³ For this command is a lamp,
    this teaching is a light,
and correction and instruction
    are the way to life,
²⁴ keeping you from your neighbor’s wife,
    from the smooth talk of a wayward woman.

²⁵ Do not lust in your heart after her beauty
    or let her captivate you with her eyes.

²⁶ For a prostitute can be had for a loaf of bread,
    but another man’s wife preys on your very life.
²⁷ Can a man scoop fire into his lap
    without his clothes being burned?
²⁸ Can a man walk on hot coals
    without his feet being scorched?
²⁹ So is he who sleeps with another man’s wife;
    no one who touches her will go unpunished.

³⁰ People do not despise a thief if he steals
    to satisfy his hunger when he is starving.
³¹ Yet if he is caught, he must pay sevenfold,
    though it costs him all the wealth of his house.
³² But a man who commits adultery has no sense;
    whoever does so destroys himself.
³³ Blows and disgrace are his lot,
    and his shame will never be wiped away.

³⁴ For jealousy arouses a husband’s fury,
    and he will show no mercy when he takes revenge.
³⁵ He will not accept any compensation;
    he will refuse a bribe, however great it is.

Heart Attack

Statistics say that it is impossible for a human being to survive without a heart. Okay, I don’t have statistics for that, but it’s common sense. If you don’t have blood pumping through your body, you’re running on borrowed time.

The world of the Bible – both the Hebrews and the Greeks – believed the heart was more than just a blood-pumping muscle. It had power.

The heart is the place where all our energy, motivations, and true intentions come from.

In the Bible, the heart keeps you alive – it IS your life, identity, and way of being in the world.

It makes sense then that Proverbs 6 talks about how to respond to the various challenges of life. Everything that happens is about motivation, attitude, and execution – in other words, stuff that starts in our heart.

Proverbs says, “A troublemaker and a villain…plots evil with deceit in his heart…” (6:12, 14). Every struggle in Proverbs 6 is an issue of whether or not we’ve turned our hearts to God and His wisdom.

For example, the Proverbs talk about things that the Lord “hates” and are “detestable” to Him. (6:16) Good to remember that these are “things” that God is against, not “people.” Besides, the reason they’re detestable is that they destroy us from the inside out.

Detestable

• Haughty eyes = seeing the world like you’re better than everyone
• Lying tongue = driven to hide the truth for our own purposes
• Hands that shed innocent blood = taking advantage of people who have done nothing wrong
• Heart that devises wicked schemes = planning things that benefit us and wound others
• Feet that are quick to rush to evil = the motivation to go for what is most profitable to us, no matter what
• A false witness = a heart that accuses other people falsely
• A person who stirs up conflict = the drive to create chaos between people for whatever reason

The challenge today is to look at these seven issues and ask, “Which of these do I find coming out of my own heart and life?”

What if instead we took the advice of 6:20-23 as we go through the day today?